2012-08-23

LTE 4G business supremacy: Reliance Industries v/s Bharti Airtel

Despite an unprecedented delay in LTE launch by Reliance Industries that will pitch against Airtel, analysts have started predicting success for RIL's telecom venture in India. But Airtel will not give up and grow in global telecom markets.

RIL is sitting on a huge cash reserve of around Rs 1 lakh crore, India Today reported. It paid 12,847 crore for bagging BWA spectrum in 2010. RIL is currently talking with telecom equipment companies such as Huawei, Ericsson, ZTE, Samsung, Nokia Siemens etc. for its LTE roll out.

Entering the voice business, using BWA license, will increase the addressable market for RIL. A data-only LTE strategy will lead to small market with a size of around $750 million revenues. It may not be enough to build a business case, given the fact that it paid $2.5 billion for the spectrum. Bundling of voice and data may increase its market manifold.

RIL's LTE modem and dongle to sell at lower price points than that of Bharti's which sell at Rs 7,500-8,000. It is not impossible for RIL Infotel to price an LTE dongle at a 35 percent discount to Bharti's current price or at around Rs 5,000.